Machine



(ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

D. M00. SMYTH.

BOOK SEWING MACHINE.

Patented Dec. 13,1881.

N4 PETERS PhoQv-Lilhugnphun wzshin lon. n. c.

(Model.) 2 Sheets-'-Sheet 2.

1). M00. SMYTH.

BOOK SEWING MACHINE.

No. 250,987. Patented Dec.13 ,1881.

MM WM %dm?W' f n PETER$ Pham-Lilhogmphur. Washington. m;

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIGEO DAVID MGCONNEL SMYTH, OF HARTFORD,CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SMYTH MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

BOOK-SEWING MACHINE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 250,987, datedDecember 13, 1881.

Application filed May 16, 1881. (Model-,

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, DAVID MCCONNEL SMYTH, of Hartford, in the State ofConnecti out, have invented an Improvement in Book- Sewing Machines, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for feeding the sheet to the sewingmechanism. The sewing itself may be performed in any suitable manner,and a reference is hereby made to Letters Patent No. 220,312, granted tome October 7, 1879, for a mechanism for sewing books, which may beavailed of in sewing the sheets fed to the same by the particularmechanism to which the present invention relates.

I make use of detached sheet-holders that suspend the sheet upon endbearings, and these sheet-holders are pressed up to the place where thesewing is performed, and after each sheet has been sewed the detachedsheet-holder is allowed to drop, the sewed bookis moved back, andanother sheet and holder are brought into position. The sheets aresupplied by the attendant upon the detached sheet-holders and passedsuccessively into place upon the end bearings. This gives opportunityfor the feeding to be continuous, and the attendant can accumulate anumber of sheets in position to be fed up successively to the sewingmechanism.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section, showing a number ofsheets suspended ready to be sewed. Fig. 2 is a plan, partially insection, showing the end bearings for the sheet-holders and the meansfor discharging the sheet-holders. Fig. 3 is a detached view of themeans for dischargingthe sheet-holders, and Fig. at is a front elevationof the parts shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The sheet-holders a are adapted to be passed into the folded sheets, onein each sheet. These sheet-holders are sustained at their ends by thebearing-bars L b upon which they are placed bythe attendant, so that thesheets hang down below these sheet-holders, the weight bein g supportedupon the end bearings, b These bearings b may be of any desired length,so that any number of sheets may be suspended upon them by thesheet-holders in the proper order to make up the books and I remark thatthese hearings may be fixtures upon the booksewing machine, or theymaybe connected to gether bycrossbars above the back edges of thesheets, and movable, so that they may be filled with sheets separatelyfrom the sewingmachine, and then brought to and placed in thesewing-machine, thus allowing for the sheets being placed carefully intheproperorder, ready for sewing.

If a series of progressively-rotated arms such as those shown at c e inmy aforesaid 6c patent-is made use of in the book-sewing machine, thenthe sheet-holders a will only require to be rods of metal, and thebearings b b will be placed in such a relation to the machine that assuch arms 6 rise with the movement vertically of the shaft C the armthat is to receive the folded sheet will pass into the end sheet of themass of sheets as theyare suspended upon the bearings b and as thistakes place the sheet-holding rod of that sheet will be dropped by themeans hereinafter described, so that the sheet will fall upon its arm 6,and the sheet-holding rod will drop entirely away into a box orreceptacle, ready to be used over again; but if the sheet-holding arms 0shown in said patent are dispensed with, then the sheet-holders a mustbe made of a character adapted to remain in the sheet and hold the samewhile being sewed, after which such sheet-holders drop or are withdrawn.

The sheet-holders a are represented as adapted to hold the sheet duringthe sewing operation. With this object in view the edge of each holderis deeply channeled, so as to form a guide, into which the needle passesin performing the sewing, and it is preferable to make both edges of thesheet-holder with similar channels, so that the holder may be used witheither edge uppermost.

I have represented the needles 1 l. They are to be semicircular, for usein a sewing-machine such as that shown in my said Patent No. 220,312;but it is to be borne in mind that this sheet holding and feeding devicemay be used with a book-sewing machine such as thatshown in LettersPatent No. 184,961, or No. 184,989, or in any other machine to which itis applicable.

The sheets, as suspended upon the bearings I) by the sheet-holders a,are to be pressed to- I00 ward the point of delivery or sewing either bythe hand of the operator or by a follower, f

acted upon by springs g", and having its ends resting upon the bearin gsb N, which follower is drawn back from time to time and raised and thenplaced behind another mass of suspended sheets. The constant pressuretends to move the sheet-holders up againstthe stops 1", that are in sucha position to the sewing devices or other parts of the sewing-machinethat the last sheet will be in correct position; and beneath each end ofthis sheet-holder there is a dischargin g-finger, 0 that sustains thesheetholder while the sheet is being sewed; but as soon as the sewingoperation is finished these fingers are withdrawn by a crank, v or otherconnection to a cam or similar device receiving motion from the motor.This allows the sheet-holder to drop down out of the sewed sheet; orthere may be a slide to carry such sheet-holder down and out of the wayin any convenient manner. The next sheet-holder is moved up immediately,and the fingers are returned to place to sustain the same while thesewing operation is repeated. The stationary incline t is placed so asto act against the edges of the folded sheets as they are moved up toplace for sewing, and move such sheets endwise of the holders into thecorrect position for the sewing mechanism. This incline may beadjustable.

I claim as my invention- 1. The holders for folded book-sheets, incombination with bearings for the ends of the sheet-holders to slideupon, and means, substantially as described, forliberating thesheetholders successively at the ends of the bearings, so that saidsheet-holders may fall away or be removed from the sheets, substantiallyas specified.

2. The combination, in a book-sewing machine, of sheet-holders, endbearings for the same, fingers for sustaining the sheet-holders andsheets while the sewingis being performed, and means for moving suchfingers and liberatin g the sheet-holders successively and allowin g fortheir removal, substantially as set forth.

3. Asheet-holder for a sewing-machine,having a groove for the needles ineach of its edges,and adapted tobe supported at its ends, substantiallyas set forth.

4.. The combination, with the sheet-holders and bearin gs for theirends,of a stationary incline to move the sheets endwise of the holdersinto the proper position for sewing, substantially as set forth.

Signed by me this 5th day of May, A. D. 1881.

DAVID M. SMYTH.

Witnesses CHARLES E. Gnoss, It. D. HUBBARD.

